1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a touch detecting device for detecting the grip state when an individual grips an object, a touch notifying device, an information inputting device that employs the touch detecting device, a touch replicating device, a touch transmission system, a pulse diagnostic device, a pulse diagnostic training device, and a pulse diagnostic information transmission system.
2. Background of the Invention
In Chinese medicine, the physician performs a pulse diagnosis by applying pressure on the skin over the patient's radius artery with his fingers. A diagnosis of the patient's physiological state is then made based on the pulse sensed by the physician through his fingers. The physician registers the pulse, referred to as sunko, in the radius artery which is located on the inner side of the wrist. The sunko pulse can be detected at three sites--upper, middle and lower, i.e., sunn, kann, and shaku sites, at the periphery. In contrast, an orally conveyed medical learning known as Ayurveda has long been known in India. As in the case of pulse diagnosis in Chinese medicine, in Ayurveda, the physician applies pressure with his second through fourth fingers on the skin over the radius artery in the patient's arm to take the pulse
A technique for regularly and quantitatively performing a pulse diagnosis is disclosed in JPA No.6-197873, in which a rubber glove in which a plurality of linear distortion gauges have been affixed to sites in contact with the second through fourth finger pads is placed on the hand, and the pulse wave is detected by applying pressure on the sunko with the tips of the three fingers. In this case, the physician registers the pulse of the radius artery via the distortion gauges and the rubber glove.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application, Second Publication No. Sho57-52054 discloses a technique for detecting the pulse wave by attaching a microphone formed of a piezoelement to the three sunn, kann, and shaku sites. In this method of measurement, the pulse is directly measured without employing sensation from a person's fingers.
Normal, smooth and violent waves may be cited as representative pulse waveforms. A normal wave is characteristic of a "normal" or healthy subject, and is relaxed, having a constant rhythm without disruption. The smooth wave, on the other hand, is caused by an abnormality in the flow of blood in which the movement of the pulse becomes extremely smooth due to a mammary tumor, liver or kidney ailment, respiratory ailment, stomach or intestinal ailment, inflammation, or some other illness. On the other hand, a violent wave is caused by tension or aging of the walls of the blood vessels, and is seen in diseases such as liver and gall ailments, skin ailments, high blood pressure, and pain ailments. It is believed that the elasticity of the walls of the blood vessels decreases, so that the effect of the pulse movement of the pumped blood is not readily expressed, causing this phenomenon. The waveform of a violent wave rises violently, but does not fall off immediately, remaining at a high pressure state for a fixed period of time. In terms of the sensation registered by the fingers, a violent pulse wave feels like a straight tense and long pulse.
Pressure is applied on the radius artery during a pulse diagnosis. However, the state of the pulse registered by the fingertips will vary depending on how much pressure is applied As shown in FIG. 15, the extent of pressure P at the fingertip may be qualified as light, moderate or heavy, while the finger sensation h, which shows the strength of the pulse registered by the fingertips, may be qualified as large, medium and small. In this example, a graph in which finger sensation h is plotted on the vertical axis, and pressure P is plotted on the horizontal axis is referred to as a pressure-finger sensation trend diagram.
A typical pressure-finger sensation trend diagram is shown in FIG. 16. FIG. 16(a) shows the pulse when finger sensation h is obtained at a moderate pressure P. A healthy individual's pulse frequently falls under this category. A pulse of this type is referred to as a "normal" pulse.
Next, when the finger sensation is obtained at a site where the pressure is relatively light, as in the case of the pressure-finger sensation trend diagram in FIG. 16(b), then the pressure-finger sensation trend curve is referred to as a "gradually falling" curve. A gradually falling pulse is known as hua-mai. A hua-mai pulse is one in which the finger sensation h is large over pressures ranging from light to moderate. Further, if force is directed into the fingertip, then, conversely, the pulse sensation becomes weaker. A hua-mai pulse suggests the presence of an illness at the body's surface.
Next, the pressure-finger sensation trend curve in the case where a finger sensation is obtained at a site where the degree of pressure is relatively heavy, such as the pressure-finger sensation trend diagram shown in FIG. 16(c), is referred to as a "gradually rising" curve. A gradually rising pulse is referred to as xuan-mai. In a xuan-mai pulse, the finger sensation h is large when moderate to heavy pressure P is applied. The pulse cannot be felt when only light pressure is applied by the fingertips. Rather, it is only first perceived when heavy pressure is applied. A xuan-mai pulse suggests the presence of an illness internally, that is to say, deep within the body.
It is therefore possible to know a patient's condition based on the degree of pressure applied via the fingertips in this way. In the actual pulse diagnosis, a more precise diagnosis can be performed by combining the aforementioned normal, smooth and violet pulse categories with pulse depth, i.e., hua-mai and xuan-mai pulses. However, since the physiological state of the patient is diagnosed based on subtle sensations registered by the fingers, it has been difficult to quantify and then replicate the degree of pressure applied. For this reason, it has been difficult to convey the technique of pulse diagnosis between practitioners, so that typically practice on the order of months and years is required.
Attempts have been made in the field of information machines to carry out sensing of human states or sensations. Sensing of the grip sensation when a person grips an object may be cited as one such example.
Taking the case where a person grips a cup in his hand, for example, conventional sensing of the grip sensation uses a specialized glove to measure the absolute value of the gripping force applied on the finger. This glove incorporates pressure sensors in the form of a sheet having a combination of electrodes and a pressure sensitive conductive material, the electrical resistance of which changes depending on the pressure. When the individual places the glove on his hand and grips the cup, the resistance value of the pressure sensitive conductive material changes in response to the gripping force. Thus, the absolute value of the gripping force can be known by measuring the change in the resistance value.
In the case of sensing touch sensations, such as whether or not an object is being touched by the person or what is an object's grip state (i.e., lightly gripped, strongly gripped), it is not absolutely necessary to measure the gripping force as an absolute value. Furthermore, in daily activities, a person grips an object while experiencing very subtle touch sensations. For example, in the aforementioned case of gripping a cup, the individual typically grips the cup while feeling such subtle sensations as whether the cup material is made of glass or ceramic.
However, in conventional sensing of the grip sensation, it was necessary to grip the object with a specialized glove as described above in order to achieve an objective measure of gripping force or the ability to duplicate it. For this reason, it was not possible to directly touch or grip the object, making this approach quite far off from the concept of sensing grip sensations. In addition, when a specialized glove wave adapted for use with an information inputting device like a keyboard is employed, such problems exist as the large size of the device and the burden on the operator.
Moreover, an approach might be considered in which conventional sensing of the grip sensation is applied to a pulse diagnosis, with the degree of pressure on the radius artery in the wrist being objectively detected. However, since a pulse diagnosis is carried out based on subtle sensations registered by a person's fingers, employing a specialized glove to perform the pulse diagnosis makes it impossible to detect the state of the pulse.